John:
Helvetica was originally the copyrighted property of a German foundry (Stemple AG? My spelling may be off a bit), and I believe Hewlett Packard now holds the rights. And, you're probably right about once having had it, since it was originally bundled with many Microsoft products. Last time I had it was about 2001, and I foolishly let it get away without copying it when Corporate upgraded my workstation.
You can purcahse an Helvetica fontset (usually about $30 - $50), but you may want to examine the very similar (and free) Ariel font to see if it will do what you need. Also, (just a thought), if you are using Adobe Illustrator or Corel Draw, you can convert text to curves, then manipulate it into anything you want.
Phil